Modem drilling techniques for oil wells and oil fields often involve transmitting drilling data between transmission points along a drillstring in real-time. Various sensory devices may be provided along the drillstring so that drilling data such as downhole temperature, downhole pressure, drill bit orientation, drill bit RPM, formation data, etc., may be transmitted along the drillstring towards the surface or further downhole. For example, the drilling data may be sent to a surface controller that updates drilling parameters using the drilling data in order to improve control and efficiency of the drilling operation. Real-time transmission of drilling data during drilling operations may occur when performing measurement-while-drilling (MWD), for example. Given the prevalence of MWD, efforts continue to improve upon conventional methods and apparatuses for transmitting drilling data.